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pragmatic aim o f trying to maintain the viability of the timber industry during the Great Depression . The result was that forestry management implementation and policing of forestry operations was

virtually non-existent. The Department conducted its activities in such a way as to impose as little an impediment to viable forest operations as possible ( Steane 1947) .

Another reason why the fledgling Department had very little effect on forestry operations during the 1920s and 1930s was lack o f staff and revenue . In 1923 , the permanent staff of the Department consisted of the Conservator , the Chief Inspector , a Working Plans officer , four district foresters and a typis t ( S teane 1947) . This meant that little attention was paid towards forest protection or

improvement. T o cope with the increasing demands for timber , the department looked towards protection from fire , silvicultural

treatmen t , and further dedication of forested land to State Forest as the means o f overcoming this problem , rather than restricting output .

By the late 1930s and 1940s , the Department was beginning to gain control over forestry operations and to implemen t forestry

management policy . Sawmillers were required to obtain their supplies from coupes delineated and regulated by the district foresters

according to management p olicy . Assessment of the forest resource , so vitally necessary for the proper management of the forests , had begun . A number of small areas now had Working Plans . An organized fire

protection sy stem had been initiated . By 1947 , the permanen t staff o f the Forestry Department had been built up to a total o f 146 permanent and temporary staff ( Steane 1947 ) .

The government continued to maintain a policy of attempting to attract l arge-scale foreign investment in forest resources during this period . This led to two large sales of Crown timber on c oncession areas at low roy alties for pulp and paper industries at Burnie , in the

Northwest of the stat e , and Boyer , in the Derwent Valley , in the 1930s . An examination of the c ontents , r ights , and obligations assigned by the state to the licensee of the Burnie c oncession area indicate the

government ' s attitude towards the forest resourc e . The Act relating to the Burnie c oncession area granted exclusive r ights to cut and remove any pulpwood and milling timber c ontained within the c oncession

boundaries . A Working Pl an was not required for most of the c oncession area , royalties were fixed at a v ery low rate , water requirements of the company were to be met without c harg e , and t here were also

financial incentives offered . The c ompany , in turn , was obliged to expend a certain sum of money in the establi shment o f the industry by a specified time ( Hoysted 1 981 ) . Thus , the government was prepared to offer l arge areas of prime forest and to carry out forest management ( road building and maintenanc e , fire suppression , administration , and regeneration) for l ittle more than a specified amount of investment in the establishment of a pulp and paper mill by the c ompany .

The next major legislative development to affect forestry was the establishment of the Forestry Commission in 1946. The Commission took over the administration of the Forestry Department . This was brought about by allegations in two reports which alleged corruption and irregularities in the dealings of the department with private

into the activities of the Department. The result was that the government amended the Act in 1 946, giving full control of forestry matters to the incorporated Forestry Commission .

3 . 5 of the Forestry Commission ( 1947 - )

The two decades following the formation of the Forestry Commission saw a large-scale inc rease in f orest service activities . This expansion was instigated by the government of the day to gain publ ic c onfidence and , partly , as a sc heme to provide employment opportunities for ex-servicemen returning from Worl d War I I (Sutton 1 980 ) .

The Commission saw the outstanding needs o f the State with respect to the forests at that time as an inventory of the resource , the dedication of the best forest land , roading , fire protection , and the establishment of so ftwood plantati ons ( Carron 1980 ) . Although the empl oyment c reation scheme was not particularly success ful , the

increased expenditure granted to the Commission allowed it to expand its road construc tion programme , begin a systematic aer ial survey o f Tasman ia ' s forest resourc e , and gain firmer c ontrol over forestry operations .

A r apid increase in timber producti on , in the post-war years , and severe fires in the early 1950s awakened private and public c oncern over the future availability of saw logs for the State ' s needs . As a result, in 1952 , a Board of Inquiry was set up to investigate timber

prices , sawlog production , and the c apacity of the state Forests to meet future demands . I n its report , the Board recommended continuance

of the policy of c onserving timber to meet the requirements of the state : " the Commission should refrain from making new sales of Crown l and timber except on the assurance that the timber cut therefrom will be supplied by the millers concerned to meet local needs" (Parl iament , Tasmania 1952) . The reasons for this shortage were stated thus " 60 - 100 y ears of sawmilling without regard to reafforestation and the

clearing of land for settlement have resulted in the cutting-out of the more easily accessible forests" ( Parl iamen t , Tasmania 1952 ) .

Despite the overexploitation mentioned, the commitments to industry by the Crown presupposed cons iderable new dedications of Crown land to state Forest ( Select Committee of the Legislative Council ,

Tasmania 1972 ) . However , during the 1950s and 1960s , there was

increasing resistance to further dedication . Initially , this resistance was from mining int erests , and then l ater from the Lands Department

(Cunningham 1 982 ) . T he Lands Department resisted dedication of Crown Land subject to grazing l eases to State Forest , because it lost control over the grazing lease to the Forestry Commission. During this period the government was still a ctively trying to promote further investment in the pulp and paper industry by offering exclusive rights to pulpwood in l arge reserve areas .

Apart from the government ' s decision to try to attract further capital investment in the forest industry by offering large resources of pulpwood at cheap prices , the Commission stated t hat it had another reason for trying to attract major pulpwood industries to the State .

Due to economic c onstraints , the Commission restricted its regeneration program to forest areas which had had both sawlog and pulpwood

harvested from it. As a result , the Commission was c oncerned at the large areas of the state ' s forests which had been l eft in a

"degenerate" state after the saw log corrponent had been cut out (Selec t Committee of the Legislative Council , Tasmania 1 972 ) . I n 1 959, the Huon

and Act was passed granting c oncessional rights of the Southern Forests to Australian Paper Manufac turers

( A . P . M . ) , wh o proposed to establish a semi-c hemic al pulp mill at Geeveston .

The y ear 1 959 also saw a major change in management policy and practice . A Select Committee of the Legislative Council reported on the regeneration of State Fores t, at the start of 1959. T he Committee

examined whether "in the commerc ial exploitation of the indigenous euc alypt forests , proper measures were being taken to repl ace the original and mature stands as they are harvested , and so prov ide an adequate and increasing yield for the future" (Select Committee of the Legisl ative Council , Tasmania 1959) . T he Committee found that no real attempt to plan regeneration of worked over areas had occurred . The reasons given were the lack of knowledge of the forest resource and the nature of sawmilling operations . While it found that natural

regeneration in the drier open forests had occurred satisfactorily , regeneration in the more important wetter , tall eucalypt , forests had not naturally followed to a sati sfactory standard ( Gilbert and

Cunningham 1 972) .

policy o f regeneration , based on fresh research results concerning regeneration techniques , was adopted by the Commission within a yea r .

The Committee also recommended a change in emphasis in forestry polic y .

"The prime function o f forestry should now b e the growing and

protection of new forests and the greatest possible utilization of the

remaining mature stands" (Select Committee of the Legislative Counci l , Tasmania 1 959 ) . This was a shift from being primarily concerned with attempting to regulate forestry activity wit hout undue hindranc e , to a situation closer to that o f s ustained yield regul ation where key

limitations and characteristics of the forest resource are recognise d .

The other major recommendation was to establ ish Pinus radfata

plantations to fi ll projected shortfalls in hardwood sawlog in the

years ahead .

However , due to economic considerations , regeneration operations were restricted to those a reas where integrated logging* occurred . No attempt was made to re-establish commercial forest on l and

previously cut-over for sawlog extraction . The Forestry Commission ' s

policy was " . . . to reserve standing pulpwood for devel oping industries in regions where markets appeared likely to be available in a

reasonably short time and on areas where suffi cient volume o f pulpwood

remained to a llow it to be logged economic a l ly in the future" (Select Committee of the Legislative Counc i l , Tasmania 1 972 ) .

* Integrated logging involves the harvesting o f both saw log and pulpwood in a single operation .

Regeneration was thus restricted to the A . P . M . reserve a rea in

the Sout h , and also to the north-east and north-west of the State where it was considered that the forests were outside the reasonable range of existing or proposed pulpwood industries . Regeneration o f logged

forests extended into other areas as pulpwood markets were developed: into the A . P . M . c oncession area in 1962 ; into the Burnie (A . P . P . M . )

c oncession area in 1965 ; into the Wesley Vale c oncession of A .P . P . M . in 1 972 ; and into the Tasmanian Pulpwood and Forest Holdings (T . P .F . H . )

c oncession area in 1 971 ( Felton 1976 ) . Concession areas are marked on the map i n Figure 3 . 1 .

Another important event to occur in 1959 was the gazetting of the Southern Forests Working Plan . As part of the granting of the

Concession area to A . P . M . , the Commission was responsible for drawing

up a Working Plan for the timber reserve . This Working Pl an was the first to c over any extensive area of State Forest and was said to be

suitable as the model for subsequent plans to cover State Forests elsewhere in Tasmania . T he plan states its management objectives as follows :

1 . To obtain the maximum economic sustained yield of milling timber and pulpwood as priority uses, and of other forest products as needed in those parts of the state in perpetuity .

2 . To bring the forests to full productivity by progressive steps .

3 . T o ensure that the forests supply forest values other than that of timber production ( these other benefits , however , are subsidiary to those of wood production) .

4 . _{T o obtain a permanent and reasonable distribution of}

industry throughout the area. (Forestry Commi ssion , Tasmania 197 4 )

Forest Concession Areas Granted By Acts _Of Parliament To Private Companies In Tasmania

(Source : Australia Bureau ₀₁ Statistics,

1965;

Government Printer, Hobart.)

PULPWOOD CONCESSION AREAS (a)

�

A,P,P, I'II. Burn1� ConCM88ion �rM5

Iill

A.P.P.I"!. """shy lJ o l u Concuo$ion Area

�

A.p.p.n. liIe"}<lY !Jalll ReSUI"V8

1.1

A.�.I'I. Concussion Area

8

A.P.I'!. Concession Are ..

[]lID

A . p . r l. R�sl!r"l!

� U

•

T .P.f . H . [on"e • • ion Area

This Working Plan provides fo r planning and prescriptions to be

detailed in progressive five-year plans of operation , which are revised annually .

The 1960s saw a further expansion o f the Commission ' s

activities and o f the pulp and paper industries in the stat e . Acts were passed granting the Wesley Vale concession area to A . P . P . M . in 1 96 1 , and a further extension to A . N . M . ' s Florentine Valley concession area was granted in 1966 . Progress was made by the Commission in instigating better forest resource estimates with the introduc tion o f the

Continuous Forest Inventory programme and the adoption of co mputer facilities to aid s torage and processing capacity (Forestry Commissio n , Tasmania 1966) .

However , while these assessment programmes were still in their infancy , further maj o r allocations of the forest resource occurred in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with the licensing of woodchip

exports to Japan . At this point , there appears to be a dichotomy in the Commissio n ' s polic y . On the one hand, it recognised that there was a lack o f a c o mplete assessment o f the forest areas and the potential o f the resource (Forestry Commission, Tasmania 1968 ) , acknowledged as essential knowledge for effective forest management and the

establishment of new industries . At the same time, it forged ahead with large new allocations of forest resources to industry . The Commission appeared willing to accept the risk of committing itself to the supply o f unsubstantiated resources .

wood chipping led the Commission to change its stated emphasis in policy

from one of wood production towards one where more consideration o f non-wood values was given ( Institute o f Foresters o f Australia 1972,

1975 ) . Several legislative changes to the Act in the 1970s

also indicate changes in government attitude brought about by the

increased concern being shown for the environment by the publi c . The

Act 1975 made further provision for the Commission to consult with the Director of Environmental Control on pollution or alteration of the environment. The Amendment Act 1980 laid out the terms for forest management plans to be prepared for state Forests within Conservation Areas proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Act

1970. The Amendment Act 1981 provided some financial

assistance to landowners to promote the growing of trees for purposes

other than wood production.

Because the documentation of management in the Southern

Forests presented in the next chapter comes largely from the Working Plan written for that area in 1983, the present historical

documentation does not extend beyond the early 1980s . The policies and management priorities of the Commission for the last decad e , the 1970s ,

have been summarized by the Commission to be lithe management o f the forest estate in perpetuity and the continuation of our renewable

resource!! (Forestry Commissio n , Tasmania 1982 ) . Stated management priorities were :

1 . The dedication to permanent state Forest of forest land not held as private prop�rty, National Park or other reserve. The minimum target of 1 618 000 hectacres had been almost fulfilled by the end of the 1970s.

,improve sa�log harvest and cater for the expanding pulp�ood market, along �ith further forest regeneration programs.

3. The establishment of soft�ood plantations in areas �here large soft�ood forests could be aggregated . 4 . The reinforcement of forest management and harvesting

controls to emphasise forest values such as �ildlife,

natural beauty, public access and �ater quality.

5. Upgrading of the Commission ' s functions in

administration, research, regeneration programs and staff development and training.

6. Protection of old and new forests from fire , pest, and disease.

(Forestry Commission , Tasmania 198 2 )

3 . 6 Overview

The early settlers and governments in Tasmania gave little

consideration to the finite and p otentially non-renewable nature of the forest resource . The extensiveness of and unfamiliarity with the

Tasmanian forests were among the factors which led to this neglect. The

consequence was unbridled exploitation o f the resource at the more

accessible edges , with little or no regard for its regeneration . The

land was considered by most as being only useful for agricultural

purposes . It was also assumed , apart from the undeniable right of

anyone to exploit the resource , that no financial renumeration to the

state for the utilization of the resource was applicable . The result was the degradation of the forests and the inevitable overexploitation

of the accessible resourc e .

about by this overexploitation marked the start of the slow and gradual awakening of the public and the government to the need for c ontrolling and managing forestry operations . These initial step s , however , in the late 1800s and the early 1900s , were only of a token nature . Little by way o f financial resources or labour were devoted to forestry

management. What actions were attempted had no real effect on the chaotic forestry oper ations being practised at that time.

Although individual s, between the 1 850s and 1890s , had drawn attention to the need for forestry management, the concern of the state Government was for general industrial development rather than for the wise use of the forest resource . There was , however , a change in

Government policy in the 1890s , which was to have a major infl uence on forestry in the state. The Government adopted the policy of attracting large-scale, industrial , forest-based development by o ffer ing large tracts of Crown forest to pri vate individuals or compan ies in return for their capital investment in the state . This was a step away from the attitude that the land was only good for agricultural developmen t , but i t still maintained the old status of expecting little revenue

to be received from the use o f the resource.

The establishment o f a forest service in 1920 saw the introduction of forestry management to Crown forests , if only as a policy ideal . Lack o f staff and revenue for the Forestry Department meant that l ittle attention was paid to forestry management in realit y . Forest operators continued their practices o f ol d . This situation was also aided by the lack of knowledge o f the resource and the harsh

management controls since they were perceived as likely to i nfluence

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